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Since we moved to Evergreen almost 18 years ago, we’ve been through a lot of milestones. Two kids started school. Three kids completed elementary school, middle school and high school. Three kids had bat-mitzvahs. I turned 40 … and then 50 … and then more. (Luckily my wife is ageless and avoided these milestones.) We celebrated a silver wedding anniversary. Two kids graduated from college, one cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Jefferson County students got a real-life lesson in civil disobedience last September when school board member Julie Williams suggested that a curriculum review committee be established that would, among other things, look into Advance Placement U.S. history classes with direction that “materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”

I am 11 years old, and I have seen at least seven crashes on Brook Forest Road. I am sick and tired of people flying up the road and sounding as loud as a race car.

Too many people have learned the hard way going too fast. A lot of the stories are dreadful, and I heard that one person even died. The others have had a lot of luck. I was shocked to see one live to see another day.

That should be the simple lesson for some grousing small arts organizations that have argued that the proposal to continue the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and shift modest revenues from large organizations to smaller ones doesn’t give them enough.

It’s pretty well documented now that the “Prince of Pigskins,” Tom Brady, cheated in the championship game, and in all probability in many other games as well. He is likely to be fined and suspended. His team will probably be punished, reminding us of their involvement in “film-gate” a scandal in which the league found the Patriots’ actions to be outside the rules. In a way, it’s a predictable situation when each team brings its own footballs. How about the NFL bring the pigskins, and everyone uses them?

A friend called the other day asking me to explain why funding for K-12 in this year’s state budget wasn’t larger? Also, was K-12 taking more than its “fair share” of Colorado tax dollars? I thought they were both good and important questions that perhaps deserved an answer to a larger audience.

It should be legal to use rain barrels
Editor:
As a water conservationist and home gardener, I support the practice of capturing rainwater from my roof for use around our home, returning it to its natural sources in the ground. When I moved to Colorado a few years back, I was surprised and dismayed that the state does not allow rain barrels — something my home state of Texas proudly encouraged.

On Feb. 18, the Colorado Senate presented the House of Representatives with a take-it-or-kill-it ultimatum on a spending bill for the Department of Public Safety. The disagreement centered on whether more funds should be made available to process criminal background checks for gun permits. At that point, it looked like developing a state budget was going to be a very difficult task.

So, why did she really do it? What was Hillary Clinton’s real reason for running her public e-mail through a private device and with a specially installed private server in her home while she was secretary of state?

Public business is the public’s business. It shouldn’t matter whether someone uses and pays for a personal device; the public policy remains the same. If a record is made, kept or maintained for a public purpose, the public deserves access to that record unless there is a specifically delineated exemption provided for in the law.

When the original “Star Trek” debuted in September 1966, our nation was about to be torn apart by an unpopular war in Vietnam and by race riots at home. In the nearly half-century since, the science-fiction juggernaut spawned five additional television series and 12 movies on its way to becoming a cultural icon.

At first, many assumed “Star Trek” to be an escapist space opera, but it didn’t take long for the writers to begin secreting much bigger issues into their scripts, from racism to war to civil rights.

You know you’ve reached a certain point in life when a longtime friend is recognized as a legend. And so it was for Laurie and me last week when we attended the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame induction dinner to see South Jeffco resident Marcia Neville be inducted.

The Evergreen Fire Protection District has decided to impose a $500 fee on out-of-district residents who are at fault in auto accidents where EFPD responds. It is a terrible decision that should be revoked.

Kevin Trenberth and I have known each other for about seven years. We disagree on global warming. We met again at the Foothills World Affairs Council meeting on Nov. 16, and though we shook hands in greeting, I was dismayed by his introduction of politics into his presentation, for which he used comic slides.

Thirty-five years ago, my husband, Phil, and I spent our honeymoon in England, Europe and Greece. Besides a celebration of our marriage, it was a genealogy trip. Phil has been tracing family history for more than 40 years. He loves it! That’s how I know Phil and I are 14th cousins, which explains the twitch that both of our children have … just kidding — about the twitch, I mean.

For the first time in 10 years, Colorado is generating enough tax revenue that the spending limitations in the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights are set to kick in next year. It’s estimated that the state will collect $137 million more than it is allowed to spend under TABOR. There is also about $30 million in marijuana tax revenue that the state cannot spend without voter approval.

The legislature has several options to address the surplus and has used each of them in the six times TABOR has required action since it was passed by voters in 1992.